


You, A Part of Me

by stelliums



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: AkuRoku Week (Kingdom Hearts), Alternate Universe - Tattoo Parlor, M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:00:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25751719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stelliums/pseuds/stelliums
Summary: akuroku week #2 - 'sigil' / 'your true name'roxas distracts axel while they get matching tattoos from naminé.
Relationships: Axel/Roxas (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7
Collections: Akuroku Week 2020





	You, A Part of Me

Fresh sea air greeted them as their feet sunk into the sand. Axel shook it off to no effect while Roxas took no notice of his feet being entirely covered and instead laughed at his less accustomed boyfriend. Roxas had spent some time on the islands with Sora. He had insisted that his home was also Roxas’s, so he was always glad to see him.

A tattoo parlour had opened up on the shores of the Destiny Islands. It was less of a building and more of a shack, cobbled together with stone, straw and driftwood. Tattoos had always been somewhat prevalent on the islands, either due to cultural traditions that were only half-remembered by many of the inhabitants or as a fashion statement.

“Lea, Roxas! I didn’t expect to see you here– how’s Xion? Is she coming too, or is it just the two of you this time?” Kairi waved frantically at them. Often Xion joined them when he and Axel visited the islands together, but she had been invited to go to a party with Hayner, Pence and Olette. It was something to do with their class graduating high school. Roxas wouldn’t know; school was more of a suggestion for him than something he had to attend.

Axel answered first, before Roxas could correct her. The only time that Axel was ever referred to as ‘Lea’ was by those living on the islands; Kairi, Sora and Riku. Everyone else had reverted back to calling him Axel immediately – they had spent a while accidentally calling him Axel when he had gone by Lea, so the change came naturally to them. Naminé also had a tendency to slip up on occasion.

“Just us two this time. We’re actually here to see Naminé.” Axel explained. “Something about a tattoo place? And friends’ discounts?”

Kairi beamed at the mention of Naminé. “Right! She’ll be at the tattoo parlour, on the edge of the bay. It’s not far. Knowing Nami, she probably knew that you were coming. We should catch up sometime, okay?”

“Sure. But our appointment is in five, so maybe later.” Roxas suggested. He took Axel’s hand and squeezed it. He returned the squeeze but glanced at him quizzically. “See you, Kairi!”

“Bye Roxas, bye Lea!” Her sandals kicked up the sand as she ran to meet Sora and Riku further up the beach. They waved at them from the distance. Axel waved back while Roxas continued walking along the beach towards the shack that Naminé had managed to make into a tattoo parlour.

Naminé was stood outside. A smile lit up her face when she saw them approach. “You made it just in time. Have you figured out what design you want?” She asked, taking hold of both of Roxas’s hands and offering a warm smile to Axel. Her head dipped under a curtain of colourful beads in shades of green, white and blue. Under a closer eye the beads would be recognised as sea-glass, foraged from the waves and weaved onto string. “Be careful, the door is a little low.” The artist added in an apologetic tone. Her comment was primarily directed at Axel, who had started to rub his head after he had hit it on the low door frame.

“Well... I want this design, the dual Keyblades, on my wrist.” Axel turned over his left wrist to show Naminé the exact spot and handed over his phone to display the image. He scuffed his shoes – a pair of checkered converses that Roxas had bought him. Roxas owned a pair that featured a flame pattern, but they had gotten so worn out that they would get filled with sand if he had worn them to the Destiny Islands. The artist nodded, clearly painting a picture of the tattoo on his skin in her head.

Roxas took Axel’s phone and found the image of his design – a single chakra, but as intricately detailed as the physical weapon that it depicted. “How about this, on the opposite wrist?” He turned his tinted face to one side as Naminé examined his wrist as she had Axel’s.

“Matching couple’s sigils, hm?” Naminé teased. Her keen eye took note of Roxas’s embarrassment and Axel’s overly-casual air. “I like that idea... let’s get started, shall we?” She had paused for a moment, losing focus as if pondering the sigil that she could ink onto another’s skin, or the sigils that she would ink onto her own. Naminé already had a papou fruit on the side of her neck, often covered by her long hair. Sora, Kairi, Riku and Xion had the same tattoo in the exact same place. “Lay down here and stretch out your arm. It works with magic, so it shouldn’t hurt or take too long.”

Axel sat down on the comfortable leather recliner first and held out his arm as Naminé had instructed. “Thanks, Nami.” He stretched out his body, relaxed, as Naminé prepared what appeared to be a pen. Naminé was a witch, as some derisively called her; she had inherent magical skill and could do far more creative things with it than those who had only learned specific spells.

“Why did you say nothing, earlier? When Kairi called you by the wrong name?” Roxas asked in murmured tones. His fingers laced with Axel’s, holding onto his hand not because the process of getting the tattoo would cause him too much pain but to keep his arm in place. “I mean, you haven’t called yourself Lea for ages– why let it slide?”

His concern was met with a chuckle. Axel’s arm flinched with the instinct to playfully ruffle his hair, or lean over to peck his cheek. “It’s not a big deal, you know. Kairi’s a friend, but she didn’t really know me when I was in the Organisation. When she started to know me, it was as Lea. As someone with a heart, I guess. What I want to know is why you don’t want to ‘let it slide’.”

Naminé weaved around them like a ghost. Her mannerisms didn’t indicate that she was taking note of their discussion, although he would be surprised if she wasn’t listening in. She tapped the pen against her arm and pressed it to Axel’s skin. Rather than the ink messily seeping in, it created the beginnings of the design that he had requested - the hilts of the two crossed Keyblades.

Roxas sighed and crossed one arm over the other. His thumb traced over the back of Axel’s hand. “I don’t know... I guess when other people call you that, it’s like they see a whole different person. It would be like calling me ‘Sora’!” His gaze was cast downwards. “You’re right, they’re right, about you not being a Nobody any more. But... no, that sounds stupid...”

“Roxas, what are you talking about? You and Sora can’t be more different, and I’m just... me. Always have been. Axel, Lea- what they call me doesn’t really matter. You know who only calls me Axel? Xion, and you. You know, the people that _actually_ know me?” His self-assured grin reassured Roxas too. “If I wasn’t me, I wouldn’t be getting your sigil permanently inked onto my body, and I can’t imagine you’d get a matching tattoo with some random stranger that kind of looks like your boyfriend.”

“Hm... but what if you _are_ a random stranger that kind of looks like my boyfriend? Quick, where did we have our first date?” He found himself carrying on Axel’s joke, laughing. “What pet have I been asking for? When did you give me those stupid shoes?”

“You don’t know taste. Our first date was on top of the clock tower, you won’t stop going on about having a cat after seeing Olette’s new kittens and I gave you those shoes for your birthday a couple of years ago.” They overheard Naminé giggling. She must have overheard the more light-hearted portion of their conversation. 

Naminé only used the pen to guide the ink, as though it had a mind of its own. Roxas watched in curiosity, wondering if the ink would elegantly spread to form a chakra like a kaleidoscope, perfectly symmetrical unlike anything drawn with human hands. They watched the ink complete the two Keyblades on his wrist. Roxas’s symbol, his sigil, was imprinted on his body in a way that wasn’t easily removed. He glanced at his own, bare wrist. Axel’s chakra would be a wonderful addition to all of the other little reminders Axel had given him that he was the person who knew him most.


End file.
